•Fionna•

"Guys, look! I think he's coming to!" Gumball suddenly says.

We all stop whatever we were doing and immediately (but cautiously) approach the bed that Ash has been unconscious in for about ten minutes now.

Right after he made his grand entrance and collapsed right inside the palace, Finn and Gumball picked him up together by his arms and had him lean against them so they could practically carry him to the infirmary. We knew he couldn't go back outside, mainly because of the knifestorm-thunderstorm that's still raging and the stab wound he got from it, so Bubblegum and Gumball thought it was a good idea to take Ash to the palace's infirmary to lay him down and fix up his injury.

Well, actually, I told them to and they reluctantly thought it was a good idea. After all, we couldn't have someone bleed to death right at the palace entrance.

At first, my friends were not at all sure that we should help Ash because obviously he hurt Marceline. The big reason they hesitated, though, was the possibility that he was dangerous as his sister. It was actually Breakfast Princess and I that convinced them to help him. We told them, had it not been for Ash's assistance when she and I had been kidnapped by Ashley, we would've been killed in probably the most unpleasant way. And, it's true; if Ash hadn't suddenly out of nowhere helped us, BP and I wouldn't be here today. So, not letting him bleed out by fixing up his shoulder is our way of thanking him and saying we're even.

We all look down at Ash, who is now moving his head a little and groaning quietly, probably trying to regain consciousness and open his eyes. Ash doesn't seem dangerous at the moment, considering that he has been stabbed recently and Dr. Ice Cream had literally just fixed his wound a few minutes ago (luckily, the knife hadn't caused any major damage or hit anything important), so he probably isn't strong enough to try and attack us anyway. Just in case, though, Finn keeps his hand steady on his sword as he carefully watches Ash's every movement. Also, Gumball had handcuffed him to the bed for good measure.

Finally, after awhile of trying to open his eyes, they finally open and Ash regains consciousness. He looks around, confused.

He sits up slightly in the bed and continues to look around before he speaks. "Where am I...?" he mumbles, probably a little disoriented because of the pain meds Dr. Ice Cream had injected into him earlier.

"You're in the Candy Kingdom infirmary. We brought you here," Gumball explains curtly.

Ash merely blinks at us. "You... brought me here?" he asked, seeming surprised. He tries to move his arm that is handcuffed to the railing of the bed and finds he can't. He looks down at the handcuff around his wrist and arches an eyebrow before he looks back at us. "What's with the handcuffs?"

Bubblegum scoffs. "You don't honestly think we trust you to not attack us! Just because we saved you doesn't mean we're suddenly besties and are going to allow you to roam around free in my brother and I's kingdom!" she says, glaring at him. Marceline had been hurt the most by Ash and she hates him with a passion for it, so it's only expected that PB hates him just as much for hurting her lover.

Ash doesn't seem taken aback by her angry appearance or tone of voice as he simply lifts up his other wrist and looks at us curiously. "And what's with the ugly bracelet? Sorry, but it doesn't match my outfit at all."

Gumball steps forward. "That ugly bracelet is an invention of my sister's and mine. Let me introduce to all of you, the bracelet that neutralizes all magic! If one puts this around the wrist of a person with magical abilities, such as Ash here, it will neutralize or in other words block said magical abilities and therefore prevent the person from using them. Ash is a wizard, after all, so I thought it would be wise to take this precaution," he explains to all of us, mainly because we all had been confused as well when Gumball had suddenly slapped the bracelet around Ash's wrist after Dr. Ice Cream had gotten him settled into bed.

Flame Princess turns to Gumball. "Wait a moment; you and PB made a bracelet that blocks magic? Just like that? That's... kind of awesome!" she says, impressed. Honestly, we all are.

"Yes, indeed, my brother and I did make it, and yes, it is awesome! It took forever for us to get it right too! But, because we're such geniuses, we were eventually able to do it," Bubblegum says, looking smug.

"Um... can't Ash just simply take it off...?" Breakfast Princess questions. Good point.

Gumball smiles. "That's the best part about it; only the person who put it on him can take it off. The bracelet scans your fingerprints when you put it on someone. It then scans your fingerprints again when you try to remove it. It requires the fingerprints from the same person who put it on in order to take it off. If the fingerprints don't match up, well... you can't remove it. So, no matter how hard he might try, he can never take it off. Only I can, since I was the one to put it on him and my fingerprints were therefore scanned. Bubblegum and I made sure it's impossible for someone to remove it unless it's taken off by the same someone who put it on," he explains, smug as well.

As if to demonstrate, Ash pulls on the bracelet with the fingers of his other hand. The bracelet stays securely around his wrist no matter how hard he struggles and pulls. Eventually, he gives up trying to get it off and looks to Gumball and Bubblegum. "Impressive," he comments.

Gumball smirks wider while Bubblegum just rolls her eyes.

Jake suddenly shakes his head. "Hold on a second," he says before he gestures at Ash. "Is no one going to mention the hair style?"

He's right; the first thing we noticed about Ash when he arrived here (besides the stab wound, of course) was his hair. It had drastically changed since the last time I saw him. His usual hair style is long gone and has been replaced with a short one, just about the same length as Marshall's. In fact, it's just like Marshall's hair, except while his hair is kind of all over the place and messy, Ash's hair is now a bit thick and a bit wavy like Finn's, but also kind of straight at the same time—tamable. Considering that Ash used to be practically bald, this new style is a huge improvement. Actually, it's a good look for him. Suddenly, he's kind of pulling off this sexy wizard look.

I shake my head at that weird, disturbing thought. Ash being sexy? Me thinking he's sexy? Ew.

"Yeah, man, what's with the new hair style? When did this happen?" Finn questions Ash, and I'm thankful that he pulled me out of my thoughts.

"What happened to your old hair?" I ask him, curious.

Ash shrugs. "I wanted a change. Plus, it was Ashley's idea that I wear my hair like that; she liked it, I did not, so I decided to get rid of it and get something I actually liked," he explains in a nonchalant sort of way.

Ashley made him have that hair style? All those years?

"Who styled it? I need to get the name of your stylist for my brother," Breakfast Princess puts in, shaking her head. "He seriously needs a hair cut."

Did BP just seriously ask for Ash's stylist?

"Uh, I don't have a stylist. I did this myself," Ash says in reply.

"What, so you're a hairdresser now?" I question, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Um, no. I did this with magic. It wasn't hard to do," Ash explains.

Finn's eyes widen. "Wait, you can use magic to get a haircut? You can just, like, snap your fingers and suddenly you have a new hair style?" he gapes, looking completely and utterly shocked.

Ash shrugs his shoulders. "Basically. You can do anything with magic."

"Seriously? Because I've been needing to get a trim for awhile now but I haven't had the time to—"

"Finn!" we all say, giving him a What the heck are you doing look.

Finn holds up his hands. "What? I'm just saying. I mean, if the dude's giving out free cuts—"

"I never said I was..." Ash mumbles.

Finn gives him a look. "But you have magic and you can just snap your fingers and—"

"Okay," Cake says, clapping her paws together and eyeing Ash, "We're getting way off topic. Let's get back to the task at hand," She turns to Ash and narrows her eyes. "Why are you here?"

Ash's eyes suddenly widen, looking as if he's just remembered something important. "It's about the Enchiridion!" he lets out hurriedly. Then the look on his face turns solemn. "I know what Flame Prince is planning to do with it."

And just like that, everyone freezes and silence falls over the entire room like a giant blanket.

The silence ends when Finn takes a step towards Ash with widened eyes. "What is he planning on doing with it...?" he asks slowly, unsurely. To be honest, I think all of us are afraid to find out Flame Prince's plans for one of the most powerful artifacts in the world.

Ash swallows and looks down at his lap before he nervously plays with his fingers. Then, he takes a breath and looks up at us, now looking my twin brother dead in the eye. "Flame Prince took the Enchiridion to unleash something horrible, something that will make him unimaginably powerful and destroy everything."

Wait, WHAT?! Flame Prince is going to do WHAT NOW?!

Jake groans, slapping a paw to his forehead. "Just great! It's even worse than I thought it would be!" he says, his voice wavering in a scared tone.

Flame Princess sighs. "It's exactly as bad as I thought it would be," she says, but she still sounds scared.

"Oh God," Breakfast Princess says, freaking out. "Oh God, oh God...!"

"This is crazy!" Gumball exclaims.

Bubblegum holds up her hand. "Everyone, stop!" she shouts.

The room goes silent once again.

Bubblegum clears her throat and again glares at Ash. "Did we all forget who we're talking to? This is Ash; he's lied to us multiple times before, he can sure as hell lie to us multiple times again. How do we know what's coming out of his mouth is even remotely true?" she says with a huff, and I admit she has a point.

Ash groans. "Okay. Let's say I am lying. Why would I risk my life to come here in a knifestorm-thunderstorm? Why would I knowingly and willingly show up at a place—injured no less—where all my enemies are, a place in which all my enemies could easily kill me, since I'm weak and injured? That would be me digging my own grave. That would be incredibly stupid. And I wouldn't do that, unless I had something very dire and very important to tell you that would affect all our lives and could very well destroy everything," he says, the look on his face very serious.

"Well... he doesn't look like he's lying..." Breakfast Princess mutters.

Ash clenches his fists. "Look, I swear on my mother's grave that I am NOT lying to you, that I am NOT tricking you in any way, shape, or form," he says before his gaze turns steely. "Now, while that may not mean anything to you, it sure as hell means something to me."

His mother's grave? Ash's mother is DEAD?

Come to think of it, none of us have ever met or even SEEN his parents.

I take one look into Ash's eyes right after he said that, and I see nothing but seriousness and... the truth.

I take a deep breath. I'll probably end up regretting this later, but... "I believe Ash is telling the truth."

After I speak up, everyone turns to look at me. Including Ash, who looks surprised.

I narrow my eyes at him. "Don't make me regret it," I say, my tone nothing short of dead serious.

Ash immediately nods. "I won't. I promise," he says, actually looking a little scared of me.

I nod back before I place my hands on my hips. "Well, go ahead. Answer all of our questions, tell us everything, and don't leave out any details, no matter how small they may be."

Ash nods again. "Of course."

"First off," Bubblegum says, taking a step towards Ash, "why do you know Flame Prince's plan? How did you find out? I doubt Flame Prince just told you."

Ash sighs. "I know about the plan because my sister is working with Flame Prince," he explains, his head hung low.

What?!

"What?!" Finn bursts out before anyone else can. "Ashley is working with Flame Prince?! Flame Prince has a partner?!"

"That makes sense; there's no way he's smart enough to pull this off by himself," Flame Princess says, shaking her head.

"So, Flame Prince has a partner, and that partner is Ashley, and she's helping him do whatever crazy-ass thing he's trying to do that could destroy everything?" BP asks, her face scrunched up in worry, and her face scrunches up even more after Ash nods to her question.

"It keeps getting better and better..." Jake grumbles sarcastically.

Flame Princess gulps. "Um... what exactly do you mean by 'destroy everything'...?" she mumbles, seeming afraid to ask.

The expression on Ash's face quickly turns to dismay. "Flame Prince and Ashley plan to enact an ancient spell and therefore unleash a dangerous monster, a gigantic monster taller than fifteen stories. According to my sister, it has the power to... to..." His voice wavers before he falls silent. We all look at him expectantly, urging him to finish although I'm pretty sure none of us want to hear it.

Ash swallows before he seems to look us all in the eyes, his facial expression even graver. "It has the power to end the world," he mutters, his face paling at the mention of it. "If this monster is unleashed, it is very much a possibility that the world will be... will be literally blown up and life as we know it will end and cease to exist; everything and everyone will die."

WHAT THE HELL?!

"WHAT?!" Breakfast Princess yelps, looking absolutely horrified at Ash's explanation.

I never thought... I never thought Flame Prince could do something like that.

But how could I have not known he was this... unhinged? Even after he revealed his true colors... I had no idea he was CERTIFIABLE! I knew he was spontaneous and narcissistic and that he had a short fuse...

But this...  this is UNFATHOMABLE!

God, I can't believe I DATED him!

And... Ashley...

I shake my head and waver slightly, feeling like I'm about to pass out, and none of my friends look much better. I cannot believe Ashley is planning on doing that! All the years I've known her... I've never once thought she was capable of something like that. Sure, she's a total asshole-bitch and an incredibly mean person (we all knew that). And she did kidnap BP and I, and she did threaten to kill us... and her guards tried to kill us... So, yeah, maybe those things should've given me a hint or two at what she's really like. And, they did. Obviously. After the kidnapping, I knew Ashley wasn't just a mean girl. I knew then she was cruel.

But to be this cruel?

To destroy the world? To kill all those people?

To be cruel enough to do that?

If someone had told me Ashley was capable of cruelty on this massive of a scale, I would've said they were crazy.

This whole situation is CRAZY! I still can't really believe it!

Flame Prince and Ashley are actually OKAY with doing THAT to the world?!

It's absolutely INSANE. It's completely UNTHINKABLE.

It's GENOCIDE!

All these years... I never would have suspected they'd do something so horrible... Something so unbelievably cruel.

Jake throws his arms in the air, looking completely freaked out. "That's it! It literally can't get any worse than this—Flame Prince and Ashley are unleashing some giant, freaky monster that's going to somehow cause the end of the world...!" he panics, looking like how I feel.

"How exactly will this giant monster cause the end of the world?" PB questions Ash, almost all the color having drained from her face.

"Apparently, the monster comes from an ancient power that can cause a deadly and monumental explosion. It's like gathering all the dynamite in the world in one place and lighting it up, only this reaction will be much bigger," Ash explains, looking sick.

"Oh my God..." Finn mumbles, his face as pale as Ash's.

"Why would Ashley and Flame Prince do that?!" Gumball demands. "Don't they know that if the entire world gets blown up, they'll perish along with everyone else?!"

Ash shakes his head. "Ashley said that once the spell is enacted, the individual it's cast on will lose all reasonable common sense and thinking and that the spell will give them an unquenchable thirst for death and destruction; since Ashley planned on casting the spell on Flame Prince, he won't be thinking about anything but destroying everything in his path, not even about his own safety. Ashley's probably cast on the spell on him by now. I doubt Ashley told Flame Prince her real plan so she wouldn't scare him off and she would get him to let her cast the spell on him. She probably fed him some fake plan while she worked on the real one."

"Why would Ashley want to trick Flame Prince into blowing up the world? That'll kill her too!" Finn replies, looking baffled.

Ash sneers. "That's the thing—Ashley's ego is so big that she thinks she can stop him after he's done some damage. She doesn't fully realize how powerful that spell is because her giant ego is preventing her from realizing just that! She's been planning something for months and in that time she has convinced herself that she can overpower Flame Prince, and afterwords the world will be in shambles so, therefore, it'll be the perfect time for her take over!" he explains, seeming disgusted by his sister.

"Ashley wants to take over the world...?" Breakfast Princess squeaks in shock.

I hold up my hand. "Wait, if you've known she was planning this for months, why come forward now?" I ask.

"Because I had no idea what she was planning! All I knew was she was planning something, but she never disclosed what it would be to me," Ash sighs before he shakes his head. "She stopped trusting me years ago; she doesn't tell me anything anymore! In fact, the only reason I even know about her plan is because I eavesdropped on her when she was discussing it with one of her guards today, right before the knifestorm-thunderstorm began! Once I heard about it, I knew I had to warn people right away, and I instantly thought of you guys. It took me forever to sneak out from the Fire Kingdom and get here in that knifestorm-thunderstorm, but I knew I had to tell you guys. I mean, I even had to create a portal out of there to make it here in time!"

Of course Ashley and Flame Prince are scheming in the Fire Kingdom—it's far away and remote as well as its king and queen consider it independent and separate from Ooo, even though it's technically a part of it.

Cake shakes her head at Ash. "I... I don't get this. I just don't get this," she says before she leans toward Ash, her eyes questioning. "Why are you suddenly helping us? If you help Ashley, you could take over the world with her and be just as powerful! So, why betray her and help us?"

"Even if I wanted to rule the world beside her, she wouldn't let me. As I said, she stopped trusting me ages ago, because I stopped being on her side ages ago and she realized that. Besides, even if she still trusted me, I wouldn't do it. It's so wrong what she's doing; she's going to cause extreme damage upon the entire world and enslave everyone just so she can then take over and rule with cruelty. I won't help her cruelly murder nearly the entire population of the world and then enslave and torture the rest of them," Ash narrows his eyes, the look on his face steely. "And that's if Flame Prince doesn't completely destroy the world first; I definitely won't help Ashley do that. I won't help her end the world. I won't help her do it, I refuse to, and I definitely refuse to stand by and let her. Plus, she's my sister, unfortunately, so she's my responsibility. If Flame Prince succeeds, everything and everyone will die. If Ashley succeeds, it'll be hell for all of us—for everyone. That's why I betrayed her and am now helping you."

"So, if Ashley does stop Flame Prince from destroying the world, she'll take over and enslave and torture anyone who survives the monster? For sure?" Gumball asks, gulping. Honestly, neither of those outcomes sound good.

Ash nods, a grave look on his face. "Yes. And... uh..." He winces, "there's more..."

One of Jake's eyes twitches. "More... There's more. Of course there's more...!" he grumbles.

"I neglected to mention this earlier, but when Ashley casts the spell, she won't only release a monster, but also the army of undead soldiers that... comes with it..." Ash mumbles, wincing again.

"You're saying the more-than-fifteen-stories tall monster that can cause an explosion comes with an army of undead soldiers?! Like zombies?!" Jake gapes.

Ash looks down. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying..." he mutters.

"We're doomed," Breakfast Princess says, throwing her arms in the air. "We're officially doomed! There's no possible way we can defeat undead soldiers...!"

"Finn and I have gone against the undead many times before," I point out, trying to seek out even a sliver of positivity in this seemingly hopeless situation.

Finn turns to me, giving me a look. "True, but we've never gone against an army of the undead," he points out with a grave sigh, and I can't help but agree.

"And, um," Ash speaks up, looking at PB and me, "I feel I need to disclose something else to you all, especially to Fionna and Bubblegum."

Bubblegum and I give each other a skeptical look before we settle our suspicious gazes on Ash. PB gives him a nod as I say, "Go on."

Ash looks away again before he takes a deep breath and reluctantly meets Bubblegum and I's gazes. "I know where Marshall and Marceline are," he finally says.

He knows where Marshall and Marcy are?!

Bubblegum and I are at the side of his bed within seconds.

"Where are they?!" Bubblegum demands, and I give Ash an intense glare, making the message clear that if he's screwing with us he'll definitely pay for it.

"They're at the Fire Kingdom," Ash answers before his gaze drops to his lap. "Ashley and Flame Prince have them."

"What?!" I gape. Ashley and Flame Prince have Marshall and Marceline?! Flame Prince absolutely despises Marshall, and there's no way Marceline is safe either! And Ashley is crazy, so there's no telling what she might be doing to them! And just because Ashley claims she loves Marshall, doesn't mean she won't hurt him!

"Ashley and Flame Prince took them," Finn says with a bitter laugh, shaking his head and narrowing his eyes. "Of freaking course."

"This is crazy," Jake mutters to himself, shaking his head rapidly. "This is so fucking crazy! Flame Prince and Ashley have kidnapped Marshall and Marceline! Flame Prince is going to destroy the entire world with an ancient monster and an army of zombies, and if he somehow doesn't do that, Ashley will take over the world and we'll all become her slaves, if we even survive...!"

BP shakes her head as well, looking just as freaked out as Jake, if not more. "Oh my God, this is insane... Oh my God, this is insane... Oh my God, this is INSANE...!" she says, panicked.

"You got that right..." Ash mumbles.

Finn holds his hand up to silence everyone's freak out sessions. "Woah, woah, woah, wait a second," he says, his hand still up before it falls to his side seconds later. "So what you're saying is, either the world gets blown up by Flame Prince and everyone dies, or it gets taken over by Ashley and mostly everyone dies, but the people that live become her slaves for life...," His voice falls silent as gives Ash an unsure, frightened look. "That's... that's all we've got? Those are our only options?"

Ash is silent for a moment before he looks my twin dead in the eyes. "If we don't stop them, then yeah," he answers without hesitation.

"Well," Gumball says, pressing his lips together, "both those options suck."

I nod in agreement. "Yes, yes they do, which is why we're going to stop those 'options' from happening—both of them," I state firmly.

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Jake gapes, giving me an incredulous look.

"We're heroes," Finn puts in before I can reply, now standing tall and confident. "We do what we always do when lives are in danger."

"We stop the bad guys and save good ones," I add on, gaining confidence as well. We can do this! We're heroes. "Besides, Flame Prince and Ashley have my boyfriend and my best friend. Hell will freeze over before I give up on them. We have to get them back."

"So we simply stop Flame Prince and Ashley, save the world, and get Marshall and Marceline back as well," Breakfast Princess says, shaking her head at me. "You make it sound so easy, but it's not."

"You're right, BP—it's not easy. But it's not impossible, either," I tell her before I face everyone. "We can do this, but only if we try."

It is silent until Gumball throws his arms in the air. "Well, it's not like we have any other options, people!" he states.

"Bubba and Fionna are right; we have to do this. Not just for Marshall and Marcy, but for everyone," Bubblegum says, a determined look now on her face.

Cake takes a breath before she levels her gaze on all of us. "Then let's do it," she says, seeming just as determined as PB looks.

"I agree as well; my brother has to be stopped," Flame Princess puts in before she gives a smile that seems to say Bring it on. "Let's do it."

Before anyone else can chime in or object, sizzling is suddenly heard out of nowhere before several sparks appear in a small spot in the air next to Gumball. The sizzling and sparking stops after a few seconds, a small scroll all of a sudden appearing right where the sparks were.

All our eyes widen as we watch fire spread over it before it stops, smoking, and drops into Gumball's hands.

The moment it touches his skin, Gumball tenses and lets out a yelp. "Okay...! That's hot...!" he lets out, tossing it back and forth between his right hand and his left hand. After a moment of this, the scroll seems to cool down and the smoking stops.

Once it is completely done cooling and Gumball could hold it with ease, he unravels the little piece of string holding it together and the scroll came undone. Gumball's eyes then dart over the page, reading it thoroughly, although he doesn't read for long. A few seconds into his reading, his eyes widen to the size of saucers and his face pales over. The page shakes in his hands, his now trembling hands.

"What is it?" Bubblegum asks him, looking concerned. "What's wrong?"

Gumball's bottom lip trembles slightly, his face paling even more. Then he looks up from the page and at all of us.

He swallows before he shakily clears his throat. "The Fire Kingdom just declared war on us."